Severine-Inspired Game Changing Maple Syrup-Marinated Wild Salmon

Any journey into what is being called the “New Agrarian” movement will not take you very far before you hear about Severine von Tscharner Fleming.  She is busy sowing seeds at the non-profit organization she co-founded, The Greenhorns, serving young farmers who are passionate about growing healthy food. According to her website, "To spread the news about the future of food in America, Severine directed a documentary film, The Greenhorns, (you can see the trailer here) exploring that nation’s young farmers as well as hosting Greenhorn Radio on the Heritage Radio Network, a blog, even farmer mixers. She is one of the founders of  The Young Farmer’s Coalition, whose website manifesto describes the organization as “a group of young and sustainable farmers organizing for our collective success: we’re defining the issues that beginning farmers face, fighting for the policy change that we need, and bringing farmers together in person and online to learn, share and build a stronger community.”



 Severine is also fundamentally a farmer. Her mother’s family had a farm she spent her childhood summers on, fostering an early familiarity with farming.  After starting her college’s first student run organic garden, she took time off to work on farms around the world, returning to finish school at Berkeley where she started the Society for Agriculture and Food Ecology (SAFE), an advocacy and educational group that brings farmers and food advocates to the school to show young people role models for a more sustainable and “regenerative” idea of farming. It seems that her advocacy has paid off.

Photo by Rich Pomerantz

To find recipes from Severine for this weeks challenge was exactly that..a challenge. I am sure she is a wonderful cook but has influenced us in so many other ways. Through research we discovered she had written a chapter in the cookbook Farmstead Chef ..."Kitchen Table Talks." Therefore some of us have featured recipes from this cookbook written by Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko that epitomizes her philosophies and went wild! 


One of our simple pleasures in life is navigating the blogging community and participating where the feeling takes us. Our group is now well past the halfway point on the list of Gourmet Live's 50 Women Game Changers. The past ninth months have flown by as we experimented with dishes from each of the 50 influential women on "the list." Whether you agree or disagree with the authors chosen fifty and their order it has been an enjoyable and creative outlet to cook from the masters and those we admire. There have even been a few successful bloggers on the list. We have checked out books from the library, borrowed cookbooks from friends, surfed the Internet and browsed our own cookbook collections seeking that one recipe that will highlight that weeks outstanding woman. This group is spearheaded by my favourite well-travelled blogger Mary of One Perfect Bite who back in June 2011 invited bloggers to travel along on a culinary journey throughout the year. It is still not too late to join in in 2012. 

What have we been up to with our next Woman Game Changer......

Mary of One Perfect Bite - Tomatilla Chicken

Val of More Than Burnt Toast - Maple Syrup Marinated Wild Salmon

 Susan of The Spice Garden - Cabbage Rolls in Tomato Pepper Sauce  

Taryn of Have Kitchen, Will Feed 

Heather of Girlichef - Cornucopia Beer Cheese Soup

Jeanette at Jeanette's Healthy Living - Easy Vegetable Bean Soup and Pasta 

Linda of There and Back Again - Locally Grown Breakfast Sandwich

Barbara of Moveable Feasts - Creamy Leek Tarts 

Nancy of Picadillo - Creamy Apple Pie

Veronica of My Catholic Kitchen - Three Minute Egg

Alyce of More Time at The Table - Moroccan Carrot Salad

One thing we have all learned over the years is that you do not need to be a chef to create great tasting meals. One key is using fresh, local, seasonal and sustainable (and fairly traded) ingredients. Whether you’re an urban rooftop farmer, backyard grower, have a plot in the country, or get your food from a CSA, farmers’ market or food artisan you can discover the taste of fresh local products and the satisfaction that comes from home-grown ingredients that are transformed in your kitchen into delicious meals. Each year I put my name on the list for our neighbourhood community garden and each year I am disappointed that my name rises no higher on the list. Someday I will be able to grow rainbow-hued heirloom tomatoes steps from 

my condo doorstep and follow the path of the urban farmer I want to be.

"Preparing fish is often as much about the marinade as the quality of the catch." Especially if you add home-spun maple syrup and bourbon!!!

**Maple Syrup-Marinated Wild Salmon**

2 lbs boneless wild Alaskan salmon fillet
2 Tbsp maple syrup
½ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
½ cup bourbon
½ cup soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp canola oil
3 Tbsp green onions, finely chopped
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
½ fresh lemon, thinly sliced (optional)
½ medium yellow onion, ¼-inch sliced (optional)

Combine maple syrup, orange juice, bourbon, soy sauce, minced garlic, grated ginger root, brown sugar, green onions and oil in a bowl. Sprinkle salt and mash and blend the mixture with a fork to release flavours.

Place salmon fillets skin-side up in a glass cake pan. Pour marinade mixture over salmon fillets and let sit covered in the refrigerator for 8 hours. To broil in the oven, pour ½ cup marinade on a foil-lined jellyroll pan. Place the fish skin-side down on the foil and pour about 1 cup marinade over it. Add sliced lemon and onions on top. Broil fish at medium heat (450 degrees) for about 15 minutes, watching carefully to avoid overcooking. Baste occasionally with remaining marinade.

For outdoor grilling, heat the grill to medium before grilling individual salmon fillets, skin-side down. Depending on their thickness, cook the fillets 15 to 20 minutes, checking frequently to avoid overcooking. When the bottom sides are done, turn fillets over and grill the topsides for five additional minutes.


Serves 4

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://morethanburnttoast.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison.